国際脳研究機構IBROのSecretary Generalを務めておられますイタリア・Verona大学のMarina Bentivoglio教授が生理研を訪問されますので、セミナーをお願いしました。
IBROの活動に関するご紹介とご自身の研究テーマである脳内時計に関するお話しをしていただます。
多数ご来聴ください。

The International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) and worldwide neuroscience The presentation will briefly highlight the activities of IBRO, the world federation of neuroscience societies, associations, groups (www.ibro.info). IBRO, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1961 (at the birth of the modern era of the “neurosciences”) to facilitate communication among neuroscientists worldwide and to promote scientific exchanges and training in brain research. Since the mid-1990s IBRO has concentrated efforts and resources on the promotion of the neurosciences (and especially thetraining and networking of young investigators) worldwide, with a special focus on disadvantaged countries of the world. Main IBRO programs will be presented and discussed. Brain clocks, inflammation and ageing Life flows over time, the fourth dimension of life, which shapes our days, months and years, and clocks tick in the brain to measure time. In mammals, biological rhythms are controlled by the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) ofthe anterior hypothalamus which function as a master biological clock. The SCN thus governs the sleep-wake cycle, as well as of endogenous rhythms in behavioral, hormonal and immune functions. Other neural cell groups act as “switches” of biological functions. For example, orexin-containingneurons in the dorsolateral hypothalamus play a key role in wake regulation and are involved in circuits underlying the transition from sleep to wake. Despite the wealth of knowledge accumulated in the last years on the regulation of the SCN and brain “switches”, the effect exerted by inflammatory signalling on these cell groups has been relatively neglected, though itcan be implicated in diverse pathological and physiological conditions. Paradigmatic is, in this context, a severe neuroinflammatory condition represented by African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness. This neglected parasitic disease, which is fatal if uncured, is hallmarked in humans by alterations of the sleep-wake cycle. Findings which implicate a dysregulation of brain clock/s in experimental models of this disease will be discussed. On the other hand, in the context of physiologicalconditions, a number of data in the last years have pointed out that normal aging is hallmarked by low-grade chronic inflammatory activity, with increased production of proinflammatory cytokines peripherally and in the brain and decreased anti-inflammatory mediators. A puzzling aspect of aging is represented by the frequent dysregulation of endogenous biological rhythms, and especially of the sleep/wake cycle, and data will be presented on aging-related changes of brain clock/s. The talk will thus delineate an itinerary of research focusing on neural-immune interactions in the brain timing machinery.